New Guy with Mossberg 500 question

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Dumpy

Inactive
Greetings folks!

Total gun newb here. I've been lurking and searching for an answer, but to no avail.

I recently traded some dust collecting wheels for a Mossberg 500 without a stock at a pawn shop. Apparently, someone had removed the coating (assuming there was a coating), and tried to repaint it, and did a very crappy job. It also appeared to have net been cleaned in a loooooong time. I took the risk and tore the entire thing, even the trigger assembly down, and rebuilt it, repainted it OD green, and put a Blackhawk pistol grip stock and forend from Wally World. Thing looks great, action is great, and it shoots very well, even skeet.

Here's my question: it came with a 24" Slugster barrel, but there is no front sight. Rear sight is intact, but nothing on the front, and no sign of one ever having been on the barrel. Was this an option, or did someone just do a darn good job removing it?
 
Sounds like bubba the gun butcher strikes again!! Chances are if you look closely at the muzzle there will be file or saw marks from the saw used to shorten the barrel.

Then again bubba just removed the front sight. Remember a shotgun is shot by pointing. You might want to get a regular butt stock for it, your scores will go up. Havlin Sales carried plastic/fiber glass stocks for the 500.
 
Hope those wheels weren't worth more than about 100-150 bucks from the sound of the condition that thing is in

Might want to look around for a used barrel in that same pawn shop
 
Barrel is stock size, and absolutely no marks, which is good. I actually got it for home defense, but after shooting it I'm gonna use it to hunt as well. Shooting skeet I just sited at the tip if the barrel and crushed it. Very happy so far!:D
 
Ill post pics later. Overall condition is great, just wasn't cleaned. I looked with a magnifying glass where the site should be and absolutely no marks. Is it possible that there was no site at all on the tip?
 
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No, the Slugster barrels were issude with front/rear sights.

I would order an appropriate height ramp/sight combo & epoxy it atop the bbl. (with proper prep, of course)

Many years ago, well before the advent of factory deer/slug guns w/sights, I converted many plain bbl shotguns to slug guns using epoxy to attach the sights to the thin shot bbls.

In over 30 guns so done, IIRC only one sight came off - and that was due to clumsy gun handling, when the sight got smacked hard against a Great White Oak..............




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Shooting skeet I just sited at the tip if the barrel and crushed it.
Click to expand...

I'll take this to mean you were shooting some clays somewhere in the backyard as opposed to actually shooting the game called "Skeet" - no worries, that confusion happens all the time but the two have as much in common as a Prius and a F1 race car.........

The fact, however, that you did not have a sight, even a bead, and just pointed and shot and were successful is VERY good news, as shotguns are made to be pointed, not aimed -and you did just that............GOOD job!
 
Ok, yeah, backyard clay throwing. Had some pretty interesting shots :) thanks for the compliment. I'm enjoying guns more than I thought I would. When the wife is out of school ill be looking to expand my horizons
 
If you wanted you can find 18" barrels on ebay, gun broker etc.. and have a good short barrel for hd purposes. And also 28"vr barrels with chokes too.
 
Dumpy

Try GUN PARTS store, West Hurley, NY. They have a catalog plus on-line. They can get you a used front sight and a used wood stock and get you up and running. They also take stuff in trade (gun parts) to save you a few bucks. :cool:
 
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